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As it was expected, Intel today launched its latest family of low-power systems-on-a-chip (SoC), codenamed "Bay Trail," that will fuel a wave of powerful and energy efficient tablets, 2 in 1s and other mobile devices in the fourth quarter of this year from AAVA, Acer, ASUS, Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba.

The "Bay Trail" family of processors are the Intel's first tri-gate 3-D 22nm quad cores based on Intel's "Silvermont" microarchitecture. The Intel Atom Z3000 Processor Series ("Bay Trail-T") is the company's first mobile multi-core SoC and its most powerful offering to date for tablets and other mobile designs.

The flexibility of the new microarchitecture allows for variants of the SoC to serve multiple market segments, including new Intel Pentium and Celeron processors ("Bay Trail"-M and -D) for entry 2 in 1s, laptops, desktops and all-in-one systems.

The family of "Bay Trail" SoCs provides a wide range of options and enables one hardware configuration that supports both Windows 8 and Android.

Intel developed a new platform that solves the contemporary technology challenges people have today, including the ability to multitask, the need for prolonged battery life and enhanced graphics.

The Intel Atom Z3000 Processor offers a smaller footprint and lower power usage while also enabling double the compute performance and triple the graphics performance (enhanced by Intel Clear Video HD Technology) compared to the previous-generation Intel Atom processor. The low-power SoC platform enables over 10 hours of active battery life and three weeks of standby with an always-connected mobile experience. It also supports DX11 for expanded PC application and display resolutions of up to 2560x1600, dual independent displays, Intel Quick Synch Video and Intel Wireless Display.

The Z3000 series ranges from SoCs with a top speed of 1.8GHz up to 2.4Ghz, is available in both dual and quad core configurations and with 1MB or 2MB of shared cache. Memory ranges from 1GB to 4GB depending on the processor.

While the clock speed of the processors is rated at up to 2.4GHz Intel says that processors will not be able to run at the maximum listed speeds indefinitely but rather will run be able to "burst" to these speeds for as long as they are operating below specified voltage, current and temperature limits.

Tablets based on this latest Intel Atom SoC will be available at prices starting as low as $199.

Intel will also introduce 64-bit support for tablets in early 2014. Devices built on this version of the SoC will offer enterprise-class applications and security, and with Intel Identity Protection Technology (IPT) with PKI, will not require a VPN password when used with systems optimized for IPT and PKI.

Intel hopes tablet makers will swap out the ARM-based low power chips that sit inside the majority of tablets today for its new Intel Bay Trail platform.

The Z3000 is Intel's second recent attempt to break into the mainstream tablet market, after its Clover Trail and Clover Trail+ platforms which were slower on some of the tablets that vendors had used.

ARM is also set to roll out later this month its next generation, 64-bit v8 architecture - the Apple A7 found inside the iPhone 5S.

Returning to Intel's announcements, the "Bay Trail M" line will be available in four SKUs: Intel Pentium N3510 and Intel Celeron N2910, N2810 and N2805 processors. This series will power a number of 2 in 1 devices in addition to notebooks enabled with touch capabilities, available at lower price points.

With the microarchitecture flexibility and graphics improvements across all of the "Bay Trail" SKUs, the Pentium N3000 Processor and Celeron N2000 Processor series also boast two times faster performance in productivity applications and up to three times improvement in graphics compared to 2-year-old Intel-based value notebooks. Designs powered by these processors can be fanless, can measure less than 11 mm thick and weigh just 2.2 lbs. Intel expects the systems to start at $199 for a clamshell device, $250 for a notebook with touch and $349 for a 2 in 1 device.

The "Bay Trail D" line will be available in three SKUs: Intel Pentium J2850, Intel Celeron J1850 and Intel Celeron J1750. These offerings are Intel's smallest-ever packages for desktop processors, making them ideal for fanless and smaller form factor systems for entry level desktop computing. The processors have been also designed for vertical uses, including intelligent digital displays, with the power savings and up to three times faster performance than similar products from Intel just three years ago. Full systems based on these SKUs are expected to start at $199.

Doug Fisher, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel's Software and Services Group on IDF's stage. He cited as an example the Intel XDK NEW software tool that is part of the new Intel HTML5 development environment and helps developers create HTML5 apps that can be written once and run across devices and operating environments.

Furthermore, Fisher announced Intel is enabling 64-bit kernel support for Android, providing developers with more than 4GB system memory to help enable better performance for applications, provide new memory configurations and help pave the way for Ultra-HD video in mobile devices.

Fisher also demonstrated how capabilities from the Intel cloud services platform can help developers build robust cross-platform applications utilizing APIs and cloud services. He showcased building a B2B cloud service using the Intel XDK NEW and API services from recently acquired companies Aepona and Mashery, and the Intel cloud services platform.

Fisher concluded by highlighting the Intel Developer Zone (IDZ), which offers developers a one-stop shop for Intel software tools in maximizing their development efforts across many form factors, platforms, operating systems and HTML5.

Hermann Eul, Corporate VP and GM, Mobile and Communications Group (Intel),
highlighted the importance of wireless connectivity as 4G networks, media-rich applications and smart devices drive the need for advances in communications technology. He said the Intel XMM 7160 modem is now shipping. The LTE modem is one of the world?s smallest and lowest-power multimode-multiband solutions offering global LTE roaming in a single SKU.

Looking forward, Eul said that Intel?s next-generation XMM 7260 modem is scheduled for 2014 and will bring support for carrier aggregation, faster speeds and support for TD-LTE. He also highlighted Intel?s "Merrifield" platform for 2014 smartphone and tablet designs. Taking advantage of the 22nm Silvermont microarchitecture, Merrifield will enable 50 percent performance improvements and battery life increases over the current-generation "Clover Trail+" product and will bring support for advanced imaging, contextual awareness and personal services via an integrated sensor hub, and increased data, device and privacy protection.

Building on the introduction of 4th generation Intel Core processors last June, Kirk Skaugen, SVP and GM, PC Client Group, announced the availability of new 4th generation Intel Core vPro processors for business computing. The new processor family offers enhanced manageability, hardware-based security, improved productivity and collaboration; all within a variety of computing devices suited to meet business needs including tablets, 2 in 1s, Ultrabooks, laptops, all-in-ones and desktop PCs.

Looking forward, Skaugen said Intel will raise the bar again with the forthcoming 14nm processor platform, codenamed "Broadwell," expected to be available in 2014, which will bring higher levels of performance (30% higher than Bay Trail), a broad range of fanless systems and longer battery life.

Skaugen then detailed some of the progress happening in perceptual computing. He shared the recent availability of the Creative Senz3D Interactive Gesture Camera that has multi-dimensional gaming, video conferencing and voice control, which can be purchased at Creative.com and soon from Dell, Amazon, Newegg and TigerDirect. Skaugen concluded by showing the first all in one PC and laptop reference designs with an integrated interactive gesture camera and noted the camera would be integrated into future devices from ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo in 2014.